Research On Economic Transformation Of Resource-based Cities

Relying on their rich natural resources,resource-based cities,with the rhythm of exploitation and processing,went through phrases of initiation,expansion,ripening and declining.China hosts a lot of resource-based cities,and after many years of exploitation after the founding of the People's Republic,many resource-based cities have passed the prime period and their resources are just depleting.Even the remaining cities which still could depend on the lingering resource,due to multiple reasons,are also facing difficulties.Especially under the new normal circumstances,resource-based cities are not comparable to other cities.Our economy is ushering a new stage and our country has just become one of middle-level income countries.To reach the next goal of construction of a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and so paving the way for a high-level income country,we need to escape the trap of middle-income and to transform the mode of economic development.Although it is a task for all society,it put more pressure on resource-based cities,which,under a disadvantageous position,should make more effort.To successfully transform,these cities must at first overcome such common problems caused by unitary economic structure,environmental degradation,rudimentary mode of production,and low level technology.Secondly,these cities should adopt their own strategies fitting to their unique circumstances.They should expose to new ideas,relying on endogenous comparative advantages of innovation instead of exogenous comparative advantages of natural endowment,and cultivating new industries and growth engines with industrial concentration.This does not mean to give up the comparative advantage of natural endowment,but rather requires upgrading to produce advanced goods on the basis of comparative advantage on the one hand,and identifies new dominant industries,on the basis of capital,technology and accumulation of science,on the other.These new industries will be found either through endogenous route of cultivating new growth engines,or through exogenous route of importing new industries which are not closely connected with existing industries.Resource-based enterprises play an important role in resource-based cities,and their transformation is also a transformation for respective cities.This paper will explore the transformation of a resource-based enterprise,China Pingmeishenma Group,under the background of Pingdingshan,a coal-based city in Henan Province.This paper contends that Pingmeishenma Group should focus.on green-and-low-carbon.It should utilize its resource advantage to upgrade its products related to resources on the one hand,and deepen reform,undergo transformation and sharpen its core competitiveness on the other.To sharpen its core competitiveness,it should adopt,while adapting to its own circumstance,Diamond Model and GEM model.The Diamond Model is more often used to analyze nationwide or industry-wide competitiveness.Here it is used to analyze an enterprise and its core competitiveness,trying to take this resource-based enterprise as a complete system.Likewise,GEM model usually used to analyze the competitiveness of a enterprise cluster,rather than a single enterprise.Since resource-based enterprise can be taken as a complete system,GEM is used here to explore the ways for the resource-based enterprise to sharpen its core competitiveness.The development of resource-based enterprises can be attributed to its monopoly use of the resource in the city,and therefore they should shoulder more responsibility with the respective cities' social and economic development.Locality of new branches of these enterprises should be limited to the same city to employ more exploitation workers,contributing to the city's stability.It is the government's responsibility to transform its economic structure from its dependence on resources.Every annual government working report of Pingdingshan city since 1982 encourages structural transformation and scientific and technological progresses,seeks for support from higher governments,and searches for new ways of financing and constructing industrial cluster districts,testifying its tremendous effort on economic structural transformation.Economic development,for local governments,is not just a duty,but also a way of competing for economic benefits among various levels of governments.Resource-based cities locate in an intricate net of government with some higher,some lower and others at the same level,which forms a multi-level game.Resource-based cities are not just obeying their higher level governments,and sometimes,they compete with them.At the same time,they need to extract cooperation from lower governments to implement policies.The optimal strategy is to cooperate one another,in order to win the competition in economic development with other governments at the same level.Resource-based cities must take specific and effective measures to develop economy.For instance,Pingdingshan's growth,according to economic data since reform and opening up in the.late 1970s,mainly stemmed from investment,while consumption could not be qualified as an important engine,with a very small export,which is far lower than national average.Therefore,it should seize the opportunity of supply-side structural reform and focus on improving weak links.By riding the bus of"the belt and road" initiative,Pingdingshan should enlarge international market shares.Building industry cluster districts presents one feasible way to economic transformation for resource-based cities.It can encourage agglomeration of industries and its positive consequences.It can bring economic growth and upgrade industries,and realize the goal of green and low-carbon,and creative development.To learn the lesson of previous resource-based city' s life cycle and to prepare for the depletion of resources,these cities should design their industrial cluster districts to avoid unitariness,low-levelness and negative externality.They should emphasize the complementarities and effectiveness of using extant technology and infrastructure."Polynuclear symbiotic and alternative" model will bring sustainable development.This paper,relying on mathematical models,substantiate the feasibility of"polynuclear,symbiotic and alternative" model to develop industrial cluster districts.In sum,in order to transform their economies,resource-based cities should take full consideration of their circumstances,plan overally,and persist in the long run.Cities whose resources have not yet been depleting should prepare for the eventual depletion since it sure will happen sooner or later,while they could,at present,utilize their resource potential and enjoy this comparative advantage.Their preparation should focus on economic transformation with materials,technology and manpower and seek new growth engines.Naturally,cities with depleting resource have no time to wait.With or without blessing of resources,resource-based cities should adopt new ideas and go toward the direction of endogenous advantage,and at the same time,should deepen reform,persist on the road of green,low-carbon and creative development.On the basis of "polynuclear,symbiotic and alternative" industrial cluster districts,resource-based cities can reach the goal of transforming into innovative cities and/or intelligent cities.